Hide and Seek
by Mei
Summary: Hank is a beggar child, and his whole life could change when a fateful game of hide and seek occurs... Dedicated to Mad Cow.


My first Hank story! Dedicated to Mad Cow ^_^ The Hank genius who gives the bestest Hank Beecham stories here! Don't own, just love!  
  
Hide and Seek  
by Mei  
  
Wisps of light blond hair curled around her face, her beaming blue eyes staring straight into mine.  
  
"Hank! You came!" She whispered, grabbing my hand and holding it to the side of her face. I adored her soft touch, the only fingers that soothed my hurt instead of inflicted it. I was only five years old, but I knew what love was. Love was what I felt for the girl across the street.  
  
"I always come." I smiled shyly in response. "What do you want to do, Mira?"  
  
"I wanna play hide and seek!" Mira, as I referred to her, dug her hands into her pockets. It was a freezing day, bitter with its chilly dry air. Neither of us had received the gloves we once saw through a window at the mall seven blocks away, the only thing we had asked for the Christmas that had passed yesterday.  
  
But then again, beggars can't be choosers. And that's what we were, with tattered clothes and heavy hearts.   
  
"Okay!" I assented, covering my eyes. "One, two, fwee..."  
  
She had disappeared by the time I counted to fifty, our official H&S number. My hands and toes were numb from the cold but I knew I had to find my pal. And so the search began, long and hard. I peeked into mouseholes, called her name, and quietly ran through driveways. I cautiously looked under cardboard boxes, hidden passageways, and even attempted to open the old refrigerator sitting in the front of old man Roach's house, but the handle would not budge.  
  
I sighed, all my attempts in vain. Where was she?  
  
The truck that carried away the forgotten goods left on the street passed by quickly. It took the boxes, refrigerator, and cans and bottles.  
  
I watched it drive on, trying to spot Mira somewhere in the midst of the traffic. Maybe she had hidden behind a car.  
  
Suddenly, an abrupt jolt sent the gray truck sailing backwards, and it rapidly backed up onto an old rundown building. The driver stuck his head out and observed what had happened, but obviously dismissed it and started forward again. As soon as the gigantic moving truck pulled away, I saw the old decayed refrigerator in the back. Wobbling back and forth, it swung open and her body fell out.  
  
I shrieked in crazed horror. She had a hard time breathing as it was, with her mother sending her on walks that went on for miles until she reached the grocery store, and with a disease I heard she had...atma or something.  
  
Starting to chase it, I gave it my all but knew I had to stop by the next light. I felt dizzy and sick to my stomach. Turning into the electronics store, I begged for a phone to call 9-1-1. The storekeeper sneered, "You and your so called story aren't welcome here." He waved me away offhandedly.  
  
I next turned into the neighbor's house. I pleaded for the phone and they dialed it for me. Explaining the situation, the policeman coughed and answered, "We'll get..." he stifled a yawn. "Right on it."   
  
I could tell he didn't mean it. Adults rarely meant anything they said if they were yawning in between. I thanked the kind neighbors and bit my tongue in desperation. Where to go now?  
  
Running to my father in devastation, I wanted him to act like a superhero and chase after that truck in pursuit of the person who meant the most to me. But like always, he was in a sorry drunken state, and he pushed me away gruffly. "Leave me alone, kid. I've got enough of my troubles than to handle yours too. Go bother your Mom. Git."  
  
He seemed to have forgotten that Mom had died last year. He always did.  
  
---  
  
I hadn't found her in time. And neither had the police of Brooklyn.  
  
Her mother had cried, wailing into the night until New Year's Eve. "Miracle! Oh, Miracle, I'm sorry!"  
  
For my Mira's real name was Miracle, so named because she tried to take care of everyone and everything. She was my only friend, and likewise I was the only one she confided in.  
  
Miracle's frail mother was distraught, weeping at her window everyday.  
  
Her only love was gone.  
  
I felt her pain.  
  
---  
  
The haunting image followed me for much of my childhood. Her blond hair hung to her shoulders limply, with her blue eyes wider than ever, and she kept calling my name in despair. "Hank, save me! Please, Hank, don't leave me alone!"  
  
As far as I know, she didn't live past the day I saw her fall. I discovered her disease was really named asthma, and if she was kept in a dark place for too long, well...it was obvious why she didn't make it trapped inside that old refrigerator.  
  
But the miserable news also brought hope, for it meant that she would no longer suffer.  
  
"Hank..." the teacher shook me awake. "Hank, please pay attention. The discussion is on what you would like to be when you grow up. Have you thought about it?"  
  
There was no need to think. "I'd like to be a doctor." I said firmly.  
  
---  
  
I'm seriously watching too many episodes of Touched by an Angel ^_^ Please give me your opinion.  
  
P.S. Don't ya just hate my detours from ze series? ^_^;; Awful sorry, I just love writing short stuff! Please tell me if you like it! Pretty please?  



End file.
